Elivan's Revenge

Leopold did not answer immediately. His gaze swept over the other's face. He had never seen this face before, yet the stranger knew his name and had even gone out of his way to emphasize it...

“Who are you?”

The goblin was in no hurry to answer. Standing on the edge of the roof Leopold had shattered, he looked down at the wreckage of the meeting room—the corpses strewn everywhere, the overturned tables and chairs, the fresh blood that had yet to dry. His expression was completely calm.

“Elivan,” he said. “You probably haven't heard of this name, but that doesn't matter.”

Elivan leaped down from the edge of the roof. Leopold stared at the prosthetic limb for a few seconds, sensing that the material was off. It was neither dwarf craftsmanship nor something a goblin could create.

Elven work? No, that's not it. Leopold grew vigilant. The goblin before him had very likely obtained a power far beyond his expectations.

Leopold took a step back, only to realize that Isabella had frozen in place, her eyes locked onto Elivan.

Elivan tilted his head, his gaze passing over Leopold's shoulder to land on Isabella's face.

“A Holy Light White Dragon,” he said, as if confirming something. “Just as beautiful as the legends say. No wonder that lord cares so much about you.”

Leopold did not reply. The moment Elivan uttered the words “that lord,” Leopold had already stepped in front of Isabella, shielding her.

Yet Isabella gently pushed his shoulder aside and stepped out from behind him. Standing by Leopold's side, her icy blue eyes stared straight at Elivan.

“You've seen my brother! Haven't you?”

Leopold's pupils contracted slightly. He did not look back, but he could feel Isabella's breathing quicken as she struggled to suppress her surging emotions.

“Brother?” Elivan did not deny it. He merely laughed. “He is no brother of yours. He is His Supreme Majesty Thranduil, the future monarch of the Northern Realm!”

Isabella stood frozen, her body trembling uncontrollably. Her icy blue eyes welled with emotions Leopold had never seen in her before—shock, fury, and an indescribable trace of pain.

“Are you joking...”

“...Monarch of the Northern Realm? Father would never agree to that!” Isabella shouted. Seemingly realizing her loss of composure, she took a deep breath and calmed herself. “Please, die here.”

“Die here?” he repeated, his face suddenly darkening. “No, the one who will die today is not me, but you, Princess Isabella.”

The moment the words left his mouth, Elivan's black metal prosthetic snapped open. Sharp blades attached to cords shot from his five fingers, aiming straight for Isabella's eyes.

Clang!

Leopold reacted instantly. He instinctively thrust his hand forward, conjuring a shadow shield between them at the absolute last second, sending a shower of sparks flying.

Snapping out of it, Isabella's eyes glowed with a deep blue light as she began to chant rapidly.

“Lumen Draconis, Perde Malum!”

The moment Isabella's spell was cast, a magic rune suddenly flared on the rock ceiling of the abandoned mine. A dazzling pillar of light tore through the darkness, striking precisely where Elivan stood like divine retribution.

Boom!

The entire mine shaft shuddered. Countless fragments of stone crumbled from the walls. The moment the pillar of light struck the ground, a scorching blast of air erupted, forcing both Leopold and Isabella half a step back.

Yet as the dust cleared, Elivan was still standing in the exact same spot. His grayish-green skin was marked with charred burns from the Holy Light, but his feet had not budged an inch.

Tilting his head slightly, he looked down at the smoking burns on his body. He raised his black metal prosthetic and wiped away a bead of blood trickling down his cheek with the back of his hand.

“...That hurt,” he said.

Isabella's pupils contracted. Standing beside Leopold, her breathing was slightly more ragged than before.

Leopold realized something was wrong. The Holy Light magic had hit the target dead-on, yet the goblin didn't have a single proper penetrating wound on his body.

“...Bella, get back,” Leopold whispered.

“No,” Isabella replied curtly, her eyes locked onto Elivan. “I can feel something on him... I can't explain it, but he has a highly dangerous aura!”

Leopold did not hesitate. He trusted Isabella's judgment—her bloodline perception was far keener than his.

The shadow beneath Leopold surged, and in an instant, three shadow blades tore through the air, plowing three deep furrows into the stone floor.

Yet Elivan did not dodge. He simply stood there and raised his black metal prosthetic.

Clang!

Swiftly blocking Leopold's attack, the three shadow blades struck the surface of the prosthetic, showering sparks everywhere before being deflected away.

Leopold's pupils shrunk.

Elivan looked down at the few faint white scratches on the surface of his prosthetic, then raised his head to look at Leopold.

“Your shadow magic is much weaker than the rumors suggest,” he said. “Is your mana lacking, or do you simply not know how to use it?”

Leopold remained silent. He could feel that the force of his previous attack had been mostly negated by something. Was it a special material? No, if it were just the material, Isabella's magic wouldn't have done so little damage either.

The goblin must have been granted some kind of magic resistance.

“Alright, alright, surely you've exhausted your attacks by now? Now, it's my turn...”

The moment Elivan finished speaking, his black metal prosthetic snapped open, and a dark red crystal slowly emerged from his palm.

A magic core! It was the hallmark distinguishing the First Race from the Second Race—a crystal formed in the heart that contained the residual mana and bloodline power of that race. And the dark red one in Elivan's hand was clearly...

“Leo, that is the magic core of an adult Blaze Red Dragon,” Isabella said, her eyes narrowing. “Not only that, but he seems to...”

Elivan gave Leopold no time to think. He clenched his black prosthetic into a fist, and the dark red magic core in his palm flared. A scorching shockwave erupted outward, centering on him.

Leopold instinctively deployed a shadow shield, protecting Isabella beside him.

Clang!

The shadow shield violently shuddered under the blazing impact of the Red Dragon's magic core. Leopold could feel his mana rapidly draining to maintain the barrier. The opponent hadn't even truly attacked yet; merely activating the core was enough to push him to this point.

“Leo!” Isabella cried out from behind him, Holy Light beginning to gather in her palm once more. “Let me—”

“Don't!” Leopold yelled without looking back. “Your Holy Light does limited damage to him. Don't waste your mana!”

Elivan chuckled, as if he had heard something amusing. Taking a step forward, he slowly unclenched his prosthetic. The glow of the dark red magic core dimmed, but the scorching heat radiating from him did not fade.

“You had better be able to take this next hit.”

“What—” Leopold's pupils contracted. Elivan clenched his fist. Dark red veins snaked from the prosthetic up his forearm. In an instant, a blazing fire erupted from his palm, wrapping his entire arm in roaring flames.

“Bella!” With no time to think, Leopold instinctively threw his arms around Isabella to shield her in his embrace. He swept his left hand out, pouring all his mana into the shadow shield!

Boom! The seemingly indestructible shadow shield shattered in an instant.

In Leopold's eyes, Elivan's fist flew toward him, its movement appearing slower and slower.

If I take this hit directly, I'll probably be severely injured. Leopold stared intently at the magic core. Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be two distinct flows of mana within Elivan's body.

The next instant, the burning metal fist slammed squarely into him. The immense impact sent Leopold flying backward.

Boom!

His back crashed through the stone wall at the rear of the mine shaft. Rubble cascaded down with a clatter, burying him completely inside the collapsed crater.

“Leo... Leo, can you hear me?” Isabella cried out, staring at his face in terror.

Leopold did not open his eyes. Golden blood seeped continuously from the wound on his head.

“Bella, I know how to defeat him!”